No Words Necessary!

It's about 2 o'clock in the afternoon as I sit in a warm wooden chair that is accompanied by a table and five other chairs. The sun shining through the windows while I listen to my Grandma Colleen, who is sitting straight across from me at my high school graduation party. She’s telling stories about me to family and friends who surround the table like vultures around their prey. Everybody is laughing, some so hard their knees are starting to buckle. After everyone catches their breath, there is a moment of silence.

My cousin Mary Claire, who is sitting in the chair to the left of me decides to sneak in a couple words; “Can I get some pictures of Chris and the family?” Everybody moans and nods their head in an up and down motion. She always has to take pictures whenever the family gets together. I stand and walk at a fast pace to the wall. I enjoy when there are pictures taken because I don’t get to see my extended family too often. The rest of my family walks over slowly, as if their feet were stuck in quicksand. “Everybody squeeze closer together, I can’t fit all of you in, and I need all of you to smile,” says Mary Claire. More gripes and moans fill the air in the house. Now that were packed like a wet snowball, the picture is taken. Immediately after the picture is taken, everybody runs away from the camera as if it were going to attack them, except my Grandma Colleen.

She grabs me by my shoulder and tells me she wants a picture of us together. I put my left arm around her shoulder as fast as the speed of sound. She took my left hand with her left hand and put her right hand around my waist. With smiles on our faces and no room to squeeze a piece of paper in between us, beep beep, click. No words necessary.